Kroger CEO says discrimination suit settled

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The grocery chain Kroger Co. has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a race discrimination lawsuit brought by 12 current and former employees, according to a memo from the chain's chairman and chief executive.

The workers claimed in the 2001 federal lawsuit that Kroger blocked promotions of black employees and paid them less than whites.

A judge hasn't yet approved any agreement in the suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville, Ky., in 2001 by employees in six states on behalf of blacks working for Kroger nationwide since 1998.

Chairman and Chief Executive David Dill said in a memo to about 1,500 employees Tuesday that the money -- minus attorney fees and administration costs -- will be placed in a fund and disbursed among black employees who meet certain criteria.

The lawsuit named plaintiffs who worked at Kroger stores in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas but said the claims applied to "all stores and geographic areas."